Cheap Traffic (DVD) (Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas) (Steven Soderbergh) Price

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Customer Reviews of Traffic

Consummate direction leaves audience hopelessly addicted
TRAFFIC, helmed by Steven Soderbergh (OUT OF SIGHT) triumphs in its documentary narration of how drugs have devastated and rooted in America. The 3 simple stories are linked together, each offering different perspective on the critical issue. Benicio Del Toro plays sublimely to effect a Mexican cop who witnesses the death of his buddy to drug syndicate. The power of drugs lead to intense and volatile obsession and violence as greed reign even amongst the politcal kingdom in Mexico. Michael Douglas plays an American senator who has taken over the Drugs Office to raid out drug trafficking, only to ironically discover his daughter has been abusing drugs. Family conflicts and emotions run high in this story and the climax is shattering and most heart-rendering. Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman portray undercover cops who is on the chase for a drug lord and when he is arrested, Catherine Zeta Jones as his wife takes over his business to support their child.

TRAFFIC is in fact this year's most outstanding film in terms of direction and acting. The ensemble elevates the intense atmosphere with their seasoned acting and the direction gives it an exciting documentary vision which stimulates reality. The story-telling builds up with a climax and is acutely thought -provoking without preaching morals. It leave the audience to think and dissect the world of drugs, though the insight is not really there yet. However, as a movie, it is unequivocally this year's best - it puts the motion in picture with Soderbergh's direction and leaves the audience hopelessly addicted to it.

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GRITTY AND GRIPPING...
This is a raw and powerful movie on the drug trade and its corresponding law enforcement response. It is a series of riveting, interlocking vignettes that tell the story on all fronts of the war on drugs. It paints a picture that will stay with the viewer for some time, so powerful is the imagery employed and so compelling are the actors in their performances.

Michael Douglas plays the part of Robert Wakefield, a newly appointed drug czar, who tries to mount an all points attack on the drug trade. Naive and well meaning, he is, unbeknownst to him, being manipulated by the powers that be in Mexico, who are fighting a turf war over the profitable drug trade. He is so clueless that when the drug war actually lands on his door step, as when his teenage daughter, wonderfully portayed by Erika Christiansen, succumbs to peer pressure and becomes addicted to drugs, he is initially in heavy denial and ignores all the standard warning circles, until it is nearly too late

Benicio Del Toro, in the star making role of Javier, an intelligent, decent, and honest Mexican law enforcement officer, who has his own war on drugs going on, is riveting with his quietly powerful performance . He, too, is being manipulated by the powers that be in Mexico. Nearly too late he realizes that the Mexican gweneral, who is ostensibly battling the war on drugs and to whom Javier had given his full support and cooperation, is engaged in some drug action on the side from which he hopes to profit. The only drug war that the general is really involved in is the one that one drug cartel has with its rival.

Meanwhile, back in the states, a wealthy and respected San Diego business man, played by hunky Steven Bauer, is arrested, as it seems that his businesses are really just a front for the drug trade. His assets frozen, this leaves his beautiful and greedy wife, played by the lovely and talented Catherine Zeta-Jones, picking up the pieces of her husband's empire while he is in jail, awaiting trial. As regent to the kingdom, she cold boodedly negotiates with the drug cartel to restore her and her husband financially. No shrinking violet is she!

There are several other subplots that are also of note and move the story along. All of these vignettes interlock with one another in some fashion, serving to bring the story full circle. To find out how they do so, watch this well directed and powerful film. It is certainly well worth watching and a welcome addition to one's personal film collection.

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Flat out, lousy movie-making
This is a frustrating film for many reasons. Firstly the schizophrenia of the plotlines is poorly done and distracting. It merely further hindered me from actually gaining any sort of emotional connection to the characters (and that's counting the headstart the dialogue had given).

The themes of the movie are so apparent that they become oppressive. A previous reviewer encapsulated the film with the phrase: Drugs R bad, and while I can appreciate a noble premise like this, the way Soderbergh badgers the audience with the futility of the "war on drugs" and the affect that drugs have on addicts is devoid of tact and feels contrived to the point of nausea.

The characters are not well-developed either. Their actions are completely obvious. While this is not usually a just complaint about a movie, the lack of intrigue in the plot, the often cheesy dialogue, and the general lack of subtlety makes for an obnoxiously assuming film. It comes across not only snobbish to the layperson, but boring to the average movie-goer.

This movie really drags. This is an in-escapable fact. There were too many trifling scenes in this movie.

But that's just how it rubbed me. Although, I can see how many a pseudo-intellectual film buff could trick himself into gushing about how thought-provoking and "original" this film was, I can also see how many critics and sincere film-goers would like it as well. The message is certainly an important point of discussion regardless of how you feel on the issue, and the conclusions leave much to be debated (although, not about the film)

My main point is this: Unless you're interested in grinding your way through a movie with a plot that can be summarized in the political/humanitarian issue of the film, it's not worth seeing. If you're interested in drug-related issues, do yourself a favor and simply walk, don't run to your nearest bookstore and sift through the myriad of books on the matter. Heck, why not (since you're online anyway) look through one of the lists here at Amazon.com?!